


Pandora’s Box

by salemology



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Blood and Injury, Draco Malfoy Needs a Hug, Draco Malfoy in the Muggle World, Drugs Made Them Do It, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Ginny Weasley is a Good Friend, Gryffindor/Slytherin Inter-House Relationships, Gryffindors Being Gryffindors, Heavy Drinking, Hermione Granger Needs a Hug, Love/Hate, Mental Health Issues, POV Hermione Granger, Partying, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Post-War, Prejudice Against Slytherins, Pureblood Culture (Harry Potter), Recreational Drug Use, Redeemed Draco Malfoy, Slytherins Being Slytherins, Therapy, nightclubs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-13 18:27:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29406222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/salemology/pseuds/salemology
Summary: Ginny screamed as her long hair fell back against her shoulder, buzzing on an euphoric  high, completely unaware of the stillness of her body. Platinum hair danced violet in under the lights, catching her eyesight and never allowing her to look anywhere else.There he stood, his lips brushing against a female’s neck, long, bony fingers curling up the bare skin of her thigh, kissing the hem of the girl's dress. Hermione watched, entranced with alcohol numbing her logic, she knew she should look away. Knew it the moment his fingers slipped beneath the fabric, leg raising against his hip as his head lifted from her neck. She was trapped, bewildered, and most of all, intrigued. He stood in a Muggle nightclub, completely unfazed as people he hated surrounded him. Her body jolted against someone’s shoulder the same time he looked up, her breath hitched, caught in her throat unable to move a muscle.Draco Malfoy’s eyes locked with hers, pupils blown wide against grey. He stared at her like a predator watching its prey, his hand in under a girl's dress as he watched her. Hermione Granger felt it the moment his lips titled into a smirk; she opened Pandora’s Box, and there was no going back.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	1. I

Her lips fell open as a shattered breath left the surface of her lips, curls sticking to her forehead and the back of her neck as she fell, stomach first, against the surface of her bed. Molten eyes shutting as sweat stuck to her skin, making her feel uncontrollably sticky. It had only been two hours since she moved into Grimmauld Place, taking up space in one of the many empty rooms, Harry had insisted on her moving in when she finished eighth year. 

She told herself she accepted it so he wouldn’t be alone, not because the thought of going home to an empty house where her parents should be made her want to crawl within herself. 

It was most certainly not that reason. 

“You look awful,” Harry’s voice swirled around her as she turned her head towards the door, her cheek pressed against the mattress of her bed. The male leaned against the surface of the doorway, raven hair standing out every which way, round glasses perched across his nose. Harry had decided to grow a beard while she attended school, Hermione suspected it had something to do with trying to forget everything that happened. The war that is. 

She supposed they all tried to forget. 

“Thanks,” the girl hummed, rolling her eyes all the same, pushing her body up off the bed as Harry moved his way into the room. Green eyes floating around the several boxes that littered the surface of her bedroom. Before he resorted to taking a seat beside her, his arm reaching over and pulling her into a hug. Harry ignoring the fact that she probably smelled like a sewer, they had seen each other at worse times than a simple sweat cladded stench. It was those months in the tent that had brought them closer, when Ron left them alone, when all they had was each other. 

“Sorry I wasn’t here when you arrived, I tried to be, but Kingsley needed to see me,” Harry mumbled against her shoulder, her arms wrapping around him as she hugged him tightly. Training to be an Auror kept him busy more than other times, she suspected he didn’t mind it too much. She knew Ron did particularly more than he would admit, and perhaps Ginny did as well. 

“It’s alright Harry, really. I’m more than capable of spending a few hours alone,” Hermione spoke softly, smiling as she pulled away from him, pushing herself up to stand as she stretched her aching bones. In hindsight, she could’ve hauled all these boxes with magic. She had found herself depending too much on magic the past few months, she needed to do something for herself, no matter the strain on her body. “Besides, it gave me time to check out some other rooms. Do you mind if I add my books to the library?” She questioned halfmindly as she stared at the boxes stacked upon the wall, each labeled ‘Books.’ 

Harry chuckled lightly from behind her, catching her attention as she turned her head to look at him. Narrowing her eyes slightly as he smiled fondly up at her, “it’s nice to have you around. You can do whatever you want to this house, I hardly know what to do with it.” Harry explained after a moment, running a hand through his hair as she pursed her lips. She remembered Harry had stubbornly refused to live here first, insisted on it being Sirius’ and Kreachers. But when the house elf suddenly died in the downstairs dining area, Harry had changed his mind. 

She suspected it had something to do with the fact that it was empty, void of all life. So unlike the times when all the Order occupied the halls. Most of them laid dead now, lost to the side of dark, lost to the Veil while the rest tried to figure out a way to live without them. They may have won the war, but the war that floated around them after was harder to survive. 

“I’m glad I’m here as well, Harry.” She smiled softly, reaching over and squeezing his shoulder gently. She sighed, taking back her hand as she eyed all the boxes. Already thinking of ways to organize her belongings along the room, Harry had given her Regulus Black’s room. She had wanted to insist that she would take another room, which she had done exactly that. But after receiving a letter where he quite clearly wrote ‘it would do him justice to have someone like you have his room. It’s been too long, he’s been forgotten for too long.’ 

She couldn’t very well argue at that point, no matter how much she felt like she was imposing rather than entering her room. She knew she’d just have to get used to it, conceal it and exist to keep happiness for everyone. Happiness was what everyone needed now, there was no use in ruining it. 

“I’m going to shower, do you wanna get takeaway for tonight?” She questioned, flipping up the locks on her trunk as she sorted through old sweats and jumpers. 

“About that,” Harry started, standing up as he eyed her sheepishly. She paused her movements, glancing up at him as her lips pulled to a frown. Watching as he took off his glasses, wiping them against the surface of his jumper. “I’m actually going to the Burrow,” Harry added after a moment, looking back up at her with his hands in his pockets. 

The Burrow. A place she once would call her magical home, in a way she supposed she still could. But it was different now, for months Molly had spoken of plans for a wedding, of how happy she had been when Ron announced they were together. For a time, it worked, it was enough. They each needed something after the war, Ron had lost a brother, and she had lost her family. Their hearts bleed for the losses they endured, for the empty plates and empty conversations with people that would no longer be there. 

They needed something, and for a time, that something was each other. 

But in the end, it didn’t work out. Ron wanted time with her, he wanted a life not full of work, not full of a busy schedule. When she attended Hogwarts again, Ron hadn’t understood why, but pretended long enough for them to realize something wasn’t working. They had ended things in his bed, during Easter holidays when they no longer could pretend they were truly happy. 

She didn’t hold it against him, and he didn’t hold it against her. Expect, there was a new wall. Disappointed, disappointed dreams of a future they both wanted. All broken like shattered glass, unable to be pieced back together no matter how badly they would want it. It wasn’t enough, so they existed simply on disappointed and awkward exchanges. 

“Oh,” Hermione replied, looking down at the clothes she had stacked and folded neatly in her trunk, before she placed a smile onto her fetuses. Masking the small disappointment she had swirling in her system, it wasn’t as if she couldn’t go to the Burrow. She very well could, it just held a different meaning now, expectations laid low, left in the air with unsaid apologizes. She didn’t know if she could handle that. “Well, that’s perfectly okay, I hope you have fun.” She smiled, taking out a pair of sweats and a jumper, letting the trunk close with a click. 

“Hermione, you could come,” Harry sighed, watching her as his eyes flickered down, sadness dripping from them like water droplets. It left her feeling as if she was choking, her lips pressed into a firm line, knuckles clutching the fabric of her clothes. 

“I can’t Harry,” she spoke firmly, keeping her head high as she stared back at him. “Not yet, I will soon, okay, I promise.” Her lips spilled into a small smile trying to convey as much truth into that promise as she could. Whether Harry believed her or not, he didn’t say, instead, he just nodded and left her alone in the room that felt like someone else’s. She watched him go, eyes casted downwards and lips pulled into a frown, blaming the loneliness in her heart on exhaustion. 

Definitely not because she was lonely, no matter how much she said otherwise. 

————

Hermione had been wrapped in an old poorly knitted blanket the next day when Ginny Weasley stepped through the Floo. Her long red hair straightened on falling against freckled skin, arms full of a white bag, filled to the top with supplies Hermione couldn’t see from where she sat. Crookshanks flicked his tail in annoyance as Ginny made her way quickly over towards Hermione, her hand snatching the book away before the brunette could even muster a word. 

“We’re going out,” Ginny announced, ripping the blanket off Hermione before wrapping her hand around the girl's wrist, tugging her up. Hermione’s feet tripped slightly over one another as Ginny started to drag her up the stairs, all the while the brunette keep trying to talk over the redhead. It wasn’t until Hermione almost tripped the third time that she tugged her wrist from her friends grasp. 

“We aren’t going anywhere! What you doing?” Hermione questioned, narrowing her eyes as she huffed in annoyance, Ginny’s own eyes narrowed in defence. 

“We are going out, you’ve been in this house since you arrived yesterday. Beside’s, I need a girls night and you’re my best friend, so?” Ginny spoke matter of factly, before wrapping her hand around Hermione’s wrist once more. 

“What do you mean?” Hermione questioned, eyebrows drawing closed as she allowed Ginny to pull her into her room. Which now sat most unpacked besides for a few photo albums she couldn’t bring herself to look through, not ready to face the emptiness of knowing the people in them didn’t know her. “What happened? Do you want me to get Harry, he isn’t here but—”

“No, don’t bother. We broke up,” Ginny cut her off flatly, sitting Hermione down on her bed before placing her white bag beside her. Hermione’s eyes widen a facture of a minute, brown eyes staring at the freckled face of Ginny Weasley. Who’s brown eyes shined without a drop of sadness, determined on whatever she had planned for the two. Her brain railed, trying to pin point when Ginny and Harry could’ve broken up, they always seemed fine to her. 

“What? Are you alright?” Hermione questioned slowly, watching as the redhead paused, head titling to look at her. The two girls had gotten closer during eighth year, when Hermione was alone with Harry and Ron. They had used it as a year of forming a better friendship between the two, in the end, Hermione wondered why they were never closer before. 

They easily could’ve been, but maybe it was the fact someone’s life was always on the line. A threat always loomed over their shoulders, it didn’t exactly make it easy to form friendships. 

“I’ve chased after that boy for a better half of my life Hermione, I don’t what to chase anymore. You get that right?” Ginny questioned, her lips pulling into a small sad smile. It was no hidden truth that Ginny had a crush on Harry for all her life, she had gotten better at hiding it, yes, but it was always there. The redhead sighed suddenly, taking a seat beside Hermione on the bed, her head coming to land on the girls shoulder as Hermione frowned, moving to wrap an arm around her shoulder. “I think we both wanted something for so long, and when we had it, we realized it isn’t what we actually want. It’s like he’s afraid around me, he treats me like I’m going to break. I’m not just some girl who’s gonna break, I had bloody Voldermort inside my head when I was eleven, I’m stronger than that.” 

Hermione’s head leaned against Ginny's, her bottom lip slipping between her teeth, she knew her friend was right. As much as she loved Harry, he had the tendency to be a bit over protective, rationally, it was the war that made him that way. Seeing so many people die, he blamed it on himself. It was a fault she couldn’t blame him for, she knew it wasn’t his fault, but he didn’t.

On the other side of it, she knew where Ginny was coming from. She didn’t want to be protected, it was the type of want Hermione could relate to. They all lived through a war, they all fought, they all lost while winning. 

“Maybe he needs time,” Hermione suggested softly, feeling Ginny lift her head off her shoulder. The girl turned her head to stare at Ginny’s face, watching as the redhead wiped away a stray tear from her freckles face. Before she turned, her face breaking into a smile when she snorted a laugh. 

“I’m done waiting, Hermione, if it’s meant to be, it’ll happen again,” she shrugged, standing as she ran a hand through her hair. “But I waited half my life for him, I don’t want to anymore.” The words left her as a sigh of relief, almost as if she had been holding in the words for months. Piled on top of sorrow and pretend, and while Hermione’s heart ached for the boy she knew was so in love with the girl, she couldn’t help but agree with Ginny’s words. 

“And you shouldn't have to, it’s your life, you pick how you live it,” Hermione agreed, reaching out and squeezing her hand as Ginny’s lips twisted into a wide smile, face lighting up like a summer's days. 

“Which brings us back to why I’m here,” Ginny grinned, brown eyes glistening with mischief as Hermione’s smile faltered. Watching as Ginny pulled out articles of clothing, laying them across the bed. Her eyes traced the thin fabrics, black and deep red staring back up at her. “We’re going to a Nightclub,” Ginny explained as she clapped her hands, her lips pressing into a smirk as Hermione’s eyes widen. 

“You can’t be serious?” The girl questioned, blinking in surprise as Ginny laughed, throwing the red dress towards Hermione. 

“I’m afraid I’m dead serious,” she explained, grinning as she picked up the black dress for herself. “Come on, we’re young, we survived a war. We deserve to have some fun,” Ginny explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. In a way, Hermione had to agree with her. But a Nightclub? That was another territory entirely, one that meant bodies pressing against each other, alcohol filling one's bloodstream with substances numbing every logical thought. Hermione liked control, she liked to make decisions rationally, liked to have everything planned out. 

This had too much possibility of the unknown, leaving her skin crawling and her mouth falling dry as she shook her head. 

“Now before you get all Miss.Head Girl on me,” Ginny spoke, pointing an accusing finger at her, causing the brunette to roll her eyes at the redhead. She wasn’t even Head Girl for Merlin’s sake, though she supposed it was offered but she declined and gave it to Padma Patil instead. “When was the last time you let yourself have fun?” Ginny questioned, hands on her hips, raised an eyebrow. “And I don’t mean, studying, I mean actual let loose, fun?” 

Hermione clamped her mouth shut, her mind railing through every moment she had the past few months, years even. Her life had been a constant survival method, fifth year full of organizing a secret army. Sixth year dealing with a new scar that ran across her chest and left hip, dealing with a heartache of seeing Ron kiss Lavender. Her supposed to be seventh year on the run, constantly moving, constantly being on watch, starving and freezing as winter twirled around them. The war, fighting, scarred and choked with sorrow. Then her eighth year, spent trying to make a relationship work, spent focusing on getting marks, spent on pretending blood wasn’t spilled on the halls she walked and slept in. 

She didn’t know. 

She couldn’t think of a time where she just existed, where she allowed herself to simply be happy without faking it, without wondering what horror fell upon her next. The thought made her blood run cold, made anger rush up in the front of her mind. 

She was only nineteen! 

Her life should be full of happiness, full of thoughtless fun without a care. But it wasn’t, it was full of helpless ache, full of things she couldn’t change. Full of nightmares that ate away at her mind, unable to leave her alone. It brought her to look at Ginny then, to catch the redhead’s knowing gaze on her own, knowing Hermione would give in, knowing the need to be alive was too much. 

She wanted to be alive, she wanted to exist beyond the walls of her mind, beyond the walls of despair and heartache. She wanted to simply have fun, and for a moment, she could imagine doing just that. Being a stupid teenage girl, the one she could never be years ago, even a month ago. 

“One night couldn’t hurt,” Hermione spoke finally, allowing her lips to tilt into a small smile as Ginny clapped her hands once more. One night, one night that she would allow herself to forget every stupid thought, to allow herself to lose control simply for the presence of being with her friend. Simply for the presence of being happy, trying to find that bliss that hollowed out of her chest. 

One night couldn’t hurt, expect, it certainly would. 

————

Between Friends sat in the middle of Muggle, London. Two buildings down from a cafe, which Hermione would have commented on it being conveniently placed if she wasn’t so caught up in the fact her dress was incredibly high. 

The red dress Ginny had brought for her to wear hugged her body in silk, long sleeves keeping the night air from nipping at her skin. ( Hermione picked to ignore that it covered the cursed scar on her left forearm. ) Much to her dismay, the neckline dipped low, exposing a slight curve of her cleavage, due to the fact the dress exposed half of her back, she wasn’t able to wear a bra. Added to the fact the dress stopped at her mid thigh, she felt completely exposed. 

“Would you stop fussing?” Ginny hissed as Hermione leaned down to try and pull her dress down further once more. The brunette shot a glare over to her friend, who’s own dress hugged her curves. Black silk twisting around her and stopping at her mid thigh. Unlike Hermione’s dress, her had thick straps, pulling up in a v shape to tie together at the back of her neck. “You look hot, now calm down. This is supposed to be fun, remember?” Ginny winked, looking over at her as they made their way towards the front of the club. 

Hermione rolled her eyes, but kept her arm linked in through Ginny’s and resisted on trying to tug down her dress once more. Fun. She could do this, she could have fun. 

“How do you even know about this club?” Hermione asked suddenly, looking over at Ginny who was stretching up on the tip of her toes, high heels giving them more height. Hermione had insisted on putting cushioning charms on both shoes, she wasn’t willing to suffer aching feet in the morning. 

“I know people,” Ginny replied off handly, before her lips broke into a wide smile. Her hand waving high in the air, before Hermione could even question what the hell did that mean, a familiar voice circled around them. 

“You came!” Daphne Greengrass greeted the pair, blonde hair pulled in tight curls, lips a violent shade of deep crimson. Hermione blinked as she watched the blonde hug Ginny, completely unfazed by the fact they were hugging as if they were childhood friends. She heard Ginny laugh, speaking a loud ‘well obviously,’ over her shoulder as the two pulled apart. And then it clicked in her mind. 

The dresses, the nightclub were all Daphne’s idea. She had been one of the Slytherin’s to return during eighth year, she was one of the only ones who didn’t seem high on ignoring everyone. Hermione remembered how each of them flocked around in their own group, heads down and attending classes as they were intended to do. Everyone in the school ignored them as long as they didn’t speak, the brunette remembered feeling bad for them for a moment. Then she remembered that half of them made her earlier school days as terrible as they could, she didn’t feel so terrible after that. 

Daphne, however, had been different. Her and Ginny had become friends sometime after Christmas break, Hermione didn’t know the details of how or even why. But as far as Slytherin’s went, she couldn’t help but think Daphne wasn’t all that terrible. 

“Granger,” Daphne greeted, her lips lacing into a small smile. Hermione returned the action, before she too leaned forward and gave the blonde a quick hug. Stunning the female for a moment, before Daphne hugged her back, Hermione had long since tried to forget every action of the war. She could do this. 

“Daphne, it’s nice to see you again,” she greeted, pulling back as the blonde smiled. Her body cladded in a navy dress, running to her mid thigh with jewels crossing against her breast area, the dress flowing off from her waist. 

“Alright let’s go! I wanna get drunk,” Ginny interrupted, intertwining their arms together, pulling Hermione into a world she wouldn’t escape. Instantly, music blasted around her ears, the dull city lights disappearing and covering with bright neon lights. Her heels clicked against the floor, only gently aware of Ginny dragging her towards a bar. The rest of her mind watched as people huddled together, screaming and dancing against each other. Blissfully unaware of the world and everything in it. Simply existing in a trail of pleasure. 

Hermione realized with a sharp pang in her chest that she wanted that, she wanted the bliss of not caring. She wanted to throw her head back, shout and laugh until her throat was raw. She wanted to be anyone but her, anyone but the bookworm people knew her as. She wanted to just live. 

It was the same reason why she swirled around, taking the shot glass that was handed to her by Daphne, and without a second thought, she threw the liquid back down her throat. Welcoming the bitter sting and taste that swirled through her mouth, eyes squeezing shut and hand pressing against her lips as she muffled a cough. 

She could count the amount of times on one hand that she had drank before. Once when she was fourteen, it had been Christmas Dinner and her mother allowed her to drink a glass of champagne. She couldn’t say she enjoyed it much but drank it anyway. Another time, it had been just before the war, just before she obliviated her parents. Her next door neighbours daughter had thrown her party, it’s where she had her first hangover, she had also woken up naked next to said daughter, though she never told anyone that. 

The last time she had drunk was after the war, after attending so many funerals, after seeing so many graves being buried and tears being shredded, she lost herself to a night of Firewhiskey. She needed it then, and she needed it now. 

Only this time it existed in the version of Vodka, burning her throat but allowing the bliss to enclose around her. It wasn’t long before the girls found themselves under the glowing lights, heat flushing against Hermione’s skin as she threw her arms around Daphne and Ginny. Her mind hazed and dulled by the many drinks she consumed and thrown back by her own hand. The music swirled around them, causing her hips to move without a second thought on how she might look. Hermione threw her head back, letting her curls that could never be tamed fall against her bare back. 

“I love you guys,” Ginny yells, her face breaking out into a wide smile as she giggles, completely unfazed by the uproute of her life. Hermione feels a sudden burst of love for her, she realizes with a sudden awh that this is her best friend, she loves Harry, but this, this is her best friend. In all her redhead glory with freckles all over her skin, her gaze beadily flickers to Daphne then. The blue coursing lights flashes across the girl's pale face, her eyes wide and a laugh emitting from her lips. She thinks Daphne is rather pretty, and maybe just maybe, she could think of her as a friend. 

Hermione leans forward then, kissing both girls on the cheeks, her face broke out into a wide smile as she spins them around. The girls break out in a loud burst of laughter, leaning on each other in their own little huddle. Laughter greeted with hiccups as Hermione clasps her hand over her mouth, blinking furiously as she tries to stop her laughter. But suddenly, everything is rather funny to her. Why hasn’t she ever laughed like this over everything? 

She stumbles again as Daphne trips, landing flat on her behind, causing the girls to break out into laughter again. Hermione holds out her hand the same time Ginny does, biting her lip to stop the laughs that bellow out of her lips. 

“Maybe we should sit for a while,” Hermione suggested as they help Daphne up again, the blonde giggling from falling over. The trio move towards the other side of the club, where blue lights switch to a light purple, creating a peaceful glow around them, skin glistening with sweat and cheeks flushed from the heat of being on the dance floor. She blinks, mouth dry and wishing for more liquids, she thinks for a moment of going and finding more, but thinks better of it when her heel catches in the floor. She loses her grip on the girls, her head falling downward and she utters a groan. 

“Stupid bloody shoes,” she mumbled, her words pillowed with a slur as she stars daggers at them. “Who even invented these? So stupid, a bloody menace,” her words trail off her lips as her eyes catch onto something. She blinks, trying to see clearly past the fog that covered her mind, she inclines her head, narrowing her eyes and there it is. 

Bright lights flashed in front of her eyes, constricting, swirling in neon colours. Creating hues over her exposed skin, music blasting around her as people moved against each other. Trapped in each of their own highs, intoxicated with liquids and substance that hissed through their bloodstreams. She could feel Ginny’s hand twist into her own, her voice screaming in an euphoric high, completely unaware of the stillness of her body. Platinum hair danced violent in under the lights, catching her eyesight and never allowing her to look anywhere else. 

There he stood, his lips brushing against a female’s neck, long, bony fingers curling up the bare skin of her thigh, kissing the hem of the girl's dress. Hermione watched, entranced with alcohol numbing her logic, she knew she should look away. Knew it the moment his fingers slipped beneath the fabric, leg raising against his hip as his head lifted from her neck. She was trapped, bewildered with heat rising to her cheeks. He stood in a Muggle nightclub, completely unfazed as people he hated surrounded him.. Her body jolted against someone’s shoulder the same time he looked up, her breath hitched, caught in her throat unable to move a muscle. 

Draco Malfoy’s eyes locked with hers, pupils blown wide against grey. He stared at her like a predator watching its prey, his hand in under a girl's dress as he watched her. Hermione Granger felt it the moment his lips titled into a smirk; she opened Pandora’s Box, and there was no going back. 

She watched, entranced as his eyes stared holes into her own. Grey sparkling and glistening, red lips pulled up into a smirk as his head tilted to the side. She wonders if this is all in her head, a trick pulled into her mind with too much alcohol. But why would it be him? She hadn’t seen him since the war, not since she testified at his trail. He hadn’t returned to Hogwarts, house arrest she had to assume. Draco Malfoy wouldn’t be anywhere near muggle London, let alone in a muggle nightclub, and yet she was staring directly at him. 

Watching as he stood, back half braced against a wall his hands full of skin and hair of a female. He was watching her with narrowed eyes, so much like the ones he threw her way at school. Disgust piled upon hatred, she almost expected him to drop the girl on his arms and match straight over towards her. Throwing the vile name of Mudblood at her and spit in her face, but he didn’t. He smirked, watching her intently, narrowed eyes with hatred but interest. As if he was daring her to look away, that thought sent a shiver through her spine. Her back standing straight and her eyebrow raised in question without her thinking, watching as he blinked in surprise. 

The girl in his arms, seemingly unaware of their silent exchange, lifted her hand to run down his stomach. Disappearing against the front of his pants, Hermione watched, noticing the way his arm moved up and down, in a circle and then repeated all again. She noted that it was the same arm that had his hand slipped in under the girls dress. 

Heat pooled in her stomach, unwanted and unasked for. Her bottom lip slipped between her teeth the same time his tongue swept out across his bottom lip. Her feet almost rocked to move toward him, but just as she moved a muscle, Ginny appeared in her vision. Causing her to blink, bringing her back to reality. Back to where her thighs clenched together, back to where she realized she was staring at Draco Malfoy. 

“Daph wants to go dancing again!” Ginny anounched, a wide smile fitted across her lips. Hermione noticed that her lipstick was smeared slightly, running across her chin and left side of her mouth, but she hadn’t questioned it further. For as Ginny turned, her eyes went back to the space where Draco was. Or at least, where he had been. The wall was empty now, no platinum blond git, no grey eyes staring daringly into hers. She blinked then, lips pursed into a line and she wondered once more if she imagined it. 

Surely she didn’t, she wouldn’t imagine anything to do with Draco. She wouldn’t even give him a second thought, until now. Until he showed up randomly in muggle London, until he showed up during her night of not caring. 

“Are you alright?” Daphne questioned suddenly, her blue eyes coming into view as Hermione blinked. Noticing then that she hadn’t even moved, still standing with her heels planted on the ground, still held down by the silver of grey that moduled her into place like glue. 

“I’m,” pretty sure I just saw Draco Malfoy finger a random girl. “I’m fine yeah, let’s go,” she quickly replied after a beat, ignoring the fact her mind roared with questions. Daphne took her answer as the truth, for she smiled and pulled her along to the dance floor where Ginny already disappeared to. 

Hermione tried to ignore the image that floated around her mind, she tried to pretend she didn’t see what she did. To go back to simply existing and having one night of unwarranted fun, and yet, grey pooled her vision as if he bewitched her. The Draco Malfoy she knew wouldn’t be caught dead in a muggle place, she was sure Nifflers would fly the day that he did. 

Her skin prickled, the familiar feeling of being watched tugged her from her thoughts. Her mind whirled as she turned her head to the side, her breath catching as she saw him. Standing with his arms across his chest, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, usual pale skin covered in numerous tattoos. Her eyes traced each one of them, black ink twisting and turning, until finally she landed on his face. 

His lips pressed into a line, silver eyes tracing her own face as they stared at each other. Each at different ends of the room, each going unnoticed by the millions of bodies that swayed and existed between them. They stared at each other like comets colliding in time and space, grey meeting brown. Neither one of them was moving, just watching, testing, as if neither one of them was sure the other existed. 

Then he smirked, hair strands falling in front of his face, unkept and messy in straight locks. His eyebrow raised, before he turned on his heel, disappearing into the crowd and leaving her with the memory of his eyes. 

And just like, one night turned into something more.


	2. I

Hermione Granger convinced herself he was never there. 

By the time her eyes gave away to the light of the morning, mouth feeling as if it was stuffed with cotton swabs, head bursting from the light, she had convinced herself she never saw Draco Malfoy. She imagined him from the alcohol bursting through her veins, mistaken him for another platinum blond male. 

"Water," Ginny groaned beside her, her feet kicking her as Hermione squeezed her eyes shut. Pulling her head in underneath her pillow as she tried to silence the sound of birds chirping early in the morning. "Hermione," Ginny prodded again, kicking her in the skin as the brunette hissed in pain. 

"Are you a witch or not?" The girl questioned as she stuck her head up, glaring at the redhead who was sprawled on her stomach. Cheek pressing in her pillow, brown eyes blinking open to look at her as she smiled. 

"You do it better," she replied, as Hermione narrowed her eyes. Ignoring the pain that trickled in her head, she reached forward and grabbed her wand from under her pillow. She had slept with it like that since the war, feeling safer with it near her than not. 

Silently, she summoned two water bottles, soaring through the air and landed with a thud on the bed. The two girls had left Daphne a little after two, where the blonde kissed them both on their cheeks rather sloppily and said something Hermione couldn't hear in under the fit of hiccups she was having. An unfortunate side effect of drinking too much alcohol for her. Now, Hermione and Ginny laid sprawled out in her bed, dressed discarded for old clothes Ginny ripped out of Hermione's closet. 

The brunette twisted open the cap, quickly drowning off her bottle as she pulled away with a sigh. Falling down against her pillow and allowing the bitter cold liquid to cure her dry mouth. Ginny did the same, pulling her pillow up further to rest against Hermione's headboard as she took gulps from her water bottle. 

"Do you want Advil?" Hermione questioned hoarsely, clearing her throat as Ginny hummed a small 'yes' in response. Hermione sighed, throwing the covers off her legs and pushing herself up off the bed. Her hand came down to grasp the bedside table quickly, dizziness from the lack of sleep and food on her system overtaking her for a moment. 

Blowing air roughly out of her nose, she pushed herself the rest of the way to her bathroom. Feet padding against the bare floor as she flicked on the lights, eyes squeezing shut for a moment as her head banged in protest. 

"I'm never drinking again," she muttered, feeling a sudden twinge in her stomach. Pain emitting from the bottom of her stomach as she pushed herself to lean against the counter. Her head falling against her forearms, eyes blinking as she breathed slowly through her mouth. Silently praying in her mind that she wouldn't throw up everything in her stomach. 

However, Ginny beat her to it.

A flash of red moved past her, as a loud bang swirled around the bathroom. Hermione lifted her head slightly, only to find that it was Ginny's knees hitting the ground as she leaned over the toilet. Hermione winched as the sound of gagging moved around her, she tore her eyes away, breathing heavily through her nose as she tried not to think of her friend vomiting. 

Instead, she blindly shuffled towards her, kneeling beside her as she pulled her red hair up out of her face. One hand rubbing Ginny's back as she continued to stare out the door and at her bed. Where Crookshanks now sat, cleaning his paws with yellow beady eyes looking up at them every few seconds. 

Finally, after what felt like hours, Ginny's body relaxed. Hermione heard the sound of the toilet flushing as the redhead sat up, allowing Hermione's hand to fall from her hair and back. Taking a chance, she turned to look at Ginny whose face was pale and slick with sweat, her hand wiping her mouth before she smiled sheepishly. 

"So, about that advil?" She questioned, pushing herself up and towards the sink. Where she picked up a green toothbrush and Hermione's tube of toothpaste. The brunette snorted, shaking her head and pushing herself to her feet. 

"How much did we drink last night?" She questioned as she opened a cabinet, finding the small pill bottle and popping it open. 

"Enough," Ginny replied as she spat out the toothpaste, pushing the green toothbrush back in her mouth, continuing to brush her teeth. Hermione noticed that her face was starting to look more peach instead of deathly pale again, signaling that she was starting to at least feel better. 

"How come you didn't tell me Daphne would be there?" Hermione questioned as she leaned against the doorframe, holding two small red pills in her hand, one for her and the other for Ginny. She watched as the redhead turned the water off, picking up a towel to dap at her lips before turning to face her. 

"Didn't think you would go," Ginny shrugged, flashing her a smile as she took one of the pills out of Hermione's hands. Walking past her as she stretched, leaving Hermione with her palm outstretched and a frown on her lips. 

She didn't have a problem with Daphne, after last night she actually came to like the girl. But she knew deep down she wouldn't have gone if Ginny told her she was going. Hermione didn't particularly like that feeling.

"You know, I thought I saw Malfoy last night," Hermione commented off handley as she walked back into the room, picking up her half empty water bottle and placing the pill in her mouth. She watched as Ginny paused, her head throwing over her shoulder as she stared at the brunette. 

"Malfoy? As in the ferret?" Ginny questioned, her lips pulling into a frown as her eyebrows drew downwards. For a moment her brown eyes flashed, leaving Hermione wondering if she knew something. "Well, he couldn't actually be there. Nifflers will fly the day we see him somewhere Muggle," Ginny added, waving her hand as Hermione frowned. 

"Yeah, that's what I thought... I don't know, I swear he was there," she paused, biting on her bottom lip as she sat down on her bed. Watching as Ginny started looking through Hermione's closet, an action they developed since Hogwarts. 

"It's strange, but I wouldn't worry about it too much," the redhead shrugged, walking out beside the bed as she laid a pair of jeans. Hermione watched, bottom lip between her teeth, a nagging feeling eating away at her mind. The memory of his grey eyes piercing through her own moulded in her mind like a constant film, overplaying and never ending. "We should go get breakfast," Ginny spoke up, brown eyes watching Hermione's with a closed off expression. Once again leaving Hermione feeling as if there was something she was missing. 

She quickly brushed it off, deciding she'll look more into later. Instead, she smiled, nodding her head and pushing herself up. "Breakfast sounds good." 

—————

She swirled her coffee with a spoon, watching as a family walked past the open window completely unaware of the world around them. Her heart clenched tightly in her chest for a moment, watching as the young girl pulled on her parents sleeve, directing them to the Muggle park that sat across from them. She remembered walking to this park as a child with her parents, where they threw bread at the duck pond. 

Hermione tore her eyes away, holding her mug tighter as she chewed on her bottom lip. Her and Ginny had opted to go to a Muggle cafe that morning, not wishing to deal with the press or journalists anywhere else. Both girls were tired of the continuing questions about the war, they wanted it to be over, not relieved every five minutes. 

"Here's your scone," Ginny smiled, placing a small white plate in front of Hermione where her cinnamon scone laid. The brunette thanked her quietly as she tore off a piece, plopping it in her mouth. Ginny sat down across from her, her mug of tea creating steam as she took a bite of her blueberry scone. 

"So admit it," Ginny spoke finally, catching Hermione off guard as she paused her movements. Eyes narrowed as Ginny smirked over at her. 

"Pardon me?" Hermione questioned flatly, causing the redhead to snort in amusement. 

"Admit that maybe you're a little stuck up and last night was fun," Ginny hummed, placing a piece of her scone in her mouth as her brown eyes twinkled with amusement. Meanwhile, Hermione sat with her mouth falling open. 

"I'm not stuck up!" She defended, lips pressing into a line as Ginny laughed again, causing Hermione's face to flush with heat. She wasn't anything even close to stuck up! She was just a little weary, sure, her parents told her a million things that could go wrong while drinking and being at a Nightclub. It was not reasonable for her to question it and to have her doubts. 

"Oh honey, I love you so much, but yes, yes you are," Ginny smiled, reaching over and tapping Hermione softly on her hand as the brunette's mouth fell open once more. 

"There's so many things that could've went wrong, it's only logical for me to think about it for a moment, I mean—" she stopped as Ginny's lips pulled to a smile, her back resting against her chair as her hands brought her mug to her lips. Amusement clear in her freckled face as Hermione huffed, waving her hand in the air as she brought her own mug to her lips. 

"You had fun though," Ginny hummed as she laid her mug down, resting her elbows on their table as Hermione rolled her eyes. Yes, she did have fun. But she wasn't about to tell that to Ginny after the redhead called her stuck up. "I have a proposition for you." Ginny added, leaning back in her chair again as she cradled her mug in her hands. Hermione's eyebrow raised slightly, pausing from placing a torn off piece of scone in her mouth. "Not that kind of proposition, get your head out of the gutter," Ginny teased, grinning as Hermione's eyes widened, face flushing. The two girls staring at each other before they both broke out into a small fit of laughter. 

"What a pity, that would've been so much fun," Hermione teased, playing along as she jutted out her bottom lip, causing Ginny to laugh lightly. 

"Can you imagine? Us leaving Harry and Ron only for each other, oh what a great love toy," the redhead sighed, placing her hand against her chest as Hermione giggled, smiling widely, a sudden idea popping in her head. Placing her mug down, she picked up one of the silver spoons, placing it in her hand as she placed it under the table. Slipping her wand out from her pocket as she did a silent transfiguration spell. 

Smiling, she slipped her wand back in her pocket before placing her hands back on the table, holding a small silver circle in between her fingers. "Will you Ginevra Weasley, take me Hermione Granger to be your best friend forever and always, blessed by these scones and from breakups with each other's family?" She questioned, smiling as Ginny snorted, her lips pulled into a wide smile. 

"Oh my Circe! Of course, we'll leave our ex boyfriends and just depend on each other forever," Ginny fake gushed, wiping tears away from her face as she took the ring, slipping it onto her finger as the two girls laughed lightly. Ginny taking another spoon, and switching it to a ring for Hermione. The brunette slipped it onto her own finger, smiling as she leaned back against her chair. 

"That's not the proposition I had, but thanks, now we're friends for life," the redhead grinned, clicking her transfigured ring against the side of her mug as Hermione snorted, bringing her coffee to her lips. 

"Well, what was it anyway?" She questioned after placing her mug down, taking the last piece of her scone and placing it in her mouth as she watched Ginny's smile falter. 

"Okay so, I can't fully tell you it right now," she spoke slowly, looking away as she ran a hand through her red hair. Hermione paused her chewing, raising an eyebrow as she watched Ginny heave a sigh. "But, I can show you it, if you want, I mean," she paused, sitting up straighter and meeting Hermione's eyes. "I think it would be good for you, the past two years you had to deal with things not meant for a nineteen year old. Merlin, we all did, but it's like you have forgotten how to live, I mean that in the kindest way possible, don't give me that look." She paused, pointing a finger at her as Hermione narrowed her eyes. "I did too for a while, but recently I found something that helps remind me that I'm still alive, that I don't have to live everyday as if," she paused, breathing in deeply before smiling softly. "As if Riddle is still in my head, as if nothing will be happy again without Fred. That's it's okay to have fun, and I want you there with me." 

Hermione blinked, her hands wrapped around her mug as she stared at Ginny. Who's face held the smallest smile, brown eyes staring at her with so much hope that it made her skin crawl. She shifted in her chair, bottom lip slipping between her teeth as her eyes fell to her mug. Hearing someone say a truth she's ignored for so long was like cracking open the gates of guilt, like everyone was suffocating her and clawing at her walls. Her left arm itched slightly, causing her to tear it off the table and lay it against her waist, pressing down on the cursed scar. 

"You deserve it too, just for the summer, and then you can go tackle some other big law that's wrong with the Ministry," Ginny commented softly, tilting her head as Hermione glanced up at her. The memory of her shoulders feeling free for the first time in years hit her, the memory of how she smiled without fear of hurting someone, without wondering if someone around her was hurting more than herself. She had felt free last night, blissfully happy in a way she hadn't felt in so long. Without the war that was never really over, looming around her, without the memory of her parents, without the feeling of loneliness she became so used to. She realized she wanted that feeling everyday. 

"Okay fine, but if it has something to do with flying brooms, I'll hex you," Hermione sighed, giving in as Ginny's lips pulled into a wide smile. 

"Brooms really aren't that scary you know?" Ginny grinned, laughing as she placed her mug to her lips once more. Hermione's eyes narrowing over towards her, she had seen enough people fall from their brooms during her years in Hogwarts to know better than to trust that. 

"Yeah right, and Umbridge is just a teddy bear," she drawled dryly, causing Ginny to laugh loudly. Catching people's attention as Hermione shushed her, despite the wide smile that was breaking across her own face at that moment. The two girls broke off into another fit of laughter, hands pressed over mouths and eyes glistening with tears. 

The change of freedom swirling around them, waiting to greet them in the form of six.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 📌 hi loves!! this is quite the shorter chapter and for that I apologize, but next chapter is planning to be way longer, so hopefully that makes up for it!!   
> 📌 so clearly i'm not working on canon ( obviously ) i'm just going on my own thing right now, i hope y'all don't mind that <3 again this is just fictional and written for entertainment!

**Author's Note:**

> hi <3 so first off, this is my first dramione fic, i’m incredibly nervous to post it but here we are anyway. 
> 
> after months of finding myself back into the fanfic phase, i’m going to take a shot on my own. this is my second work on here, and i’ll be working on chapters as soon as I can!! hope everyone is being safe, xo xo


End file.
